New to long range and big game hunting

[Vann Kirkland]

A Tikka in 7mm Rem Mag would be hard to beat.

By most accounts, the Tikka is accurate, reliable, light weight, and reasonably priced.

7mm Mag is a good all around cartridge. Particularly if you reload. A 1:9.5 twist barrel on the factory Tikka (and most other factory rifles) will hold you back for the heaviest bullets, but anything between 120 gr and 175 gr will work great. Plenty of horsepower for an elk or bear, but by no means excessive for deer. With heavier bullets, it is also an outstanding long range gun for plinking steel.

I have a load with the 175 ELD-X bullet that pushes 3300 ftlbs, and will stay supersonic to about 2000 yds. I'd not hesitate to shoot an elk at 650 yds with it. For a lighter recoiling deer rifle, you could run a 140-160 gr bullet at moderate speeds, and still outperform the average 30-06 or 308 in drop, wind, and terminal performance.

Also, since it sounds like you're a beginner, loaded factory ammo is everywhere and reasonably priced, and there are tons of good reloading components and load data available.

What is your work up load for the 175ELDX? I have a Howa and I am experimenting. Thank you in advance..

 

[daka]

I would defenetly look into Tikka but would be aware of calibres like 6.5 and 7mm in a Tikka as if you will handload those calibres do require longer heavier bullets for a longer ranges. That is something that you can not achieve in a tikka mag.box.
Just something to consider.

If you end up with a 7mm Tikka and one day when you burn a barrel and decide to change a caliber then options are pretty good to go with something of a shorter shell with same breach face and be able to use any kind of a seating depth you want.

If you are planning to stick around with factory ammo, all the options you mentioned are fine. I personally love 270WSM for hunting and shooting.
Someone mentioned 7WSM and if you can get it, it is a great hunting and shooting round but again might not a be a Tikka option.

 

[WalksLikeADeer]

Thanks I appreciate your in put I was wondering how recoil would be with a 7mm mag

Welcome from Oregon! I must be recoil sensitive because I could not shoot the 7mm Rem Mag well and developed a flinch with hot loads. It even carried over to my small caliber deer rifle. Once I installed a muzzle brake all that was solved and I love shooting it now. Definitely less recoil when shot side-by-side with a .243 Win.

A word of caution though, be very careful to protect your ears with the brake installed especially when hunting. I use Sound Gear ear plugs. I forgot hearing protection once and now have permanent hearing loss in my right ear.

 

[entoptics]

What is your work up load for the 175ELDX? I have a Howa and I am experimenting. Thank you in advance..

This post and this post have pretty extensive documentation on a 180 ELDM and 175 ELDX. 26", 1:8, X-Caliber Savage Prefit, H1000, Fed215M, 66-67 gr H1000. The ELDM runs about a grain lower than the X. I'm running about 0.02" off the lands, but my throat is pretty short at only 0.06" over SAAMI 3.29" COAL. Use at your own risk of course.

 

[montana west]

the most accurate rifle I have ever seen,, was a cheap winchester M 70 with the plastic stock and the simmons scope in a package deal with a 26" bbl. in 7mm mag. period. and the tikka should be just as good .. no way a short mag will equal this.. the only short mag is the 325 the rest is just gun writers mess.

 

[BullElk54]

Hello all I'm a new comer to this sight and I want to say thanks for having me.i have been a hunter since I was able to get up in a stand or walk around with my dad.i started out hunting with a 20 ga that I harvested my first white tail with and then to a 30-30 then a 270 win and now a 308 win I mostly hunt white tail but I am wanting to start hinting black bear and hopefully get to go elk hunting with in couple years and I'm wanting to get alittle bigger caliber or just something different in a new rifle that will be used for mostly white tail and then the other 2 game above if I'm able what would yall recommend and what kind of rifle I have looked at a 6.5 but cant really seem to jump on the band wagon right now I've really been eye balling the 270 wsm and 280 ai or 7mm mag but I've not shot any of those yet so I dont know how I would like them

There are many calibers that will perform on a western hunt. It's my experience that a high quality glass on your optics (rifle & spotting) might be money well spent.

 

[Mhardigree]

7 Mag is a good round - but for more versatility - consider a 300 Mag.

And Tikka is as good as it gets for the $ - can't really be beat. I just bought a 6.5 Creed T3X Lite - for $521 on sale.
Onl problem - have to spend another $50 or so for a base - as it does not accept many standard scope rings.
But there are also other good production/inexpensive rifles also out there - Remington, Savage, Mossberg, etc.

Hello
You can purchase Talley light weight rings/base combos for around $50 and they are as good as they come.
Tikkas receivers are tried at the factory, it's one reason they shoot so well.

 

[Lee Goodwin]

Starting out "new" I would go LD setup in 6.5 PRC....if money was easy to find.

 

[AlphaDogs]

Well before everyone tries to sell you a magnum loud n boomer let me say you are all set. Your 270 or 308 will kill any Elk that walks with proper ammo.

To prepare for an Elk hunt out West you need to join RMEF and decide where you wish to hunt. Then , if the state has them, you need to start buying preference points to increase your draw chances. Next is a lot of research and recomendations to find a good outfitter who can put you on Elk. Then get in shape. Think about upgrading your scope and binocs if need be. DO NOT buy some huge variable, elk are big. Then ammo, any premium ammo 165-180 gr in your 308 will work. Folks I know have had excellent results with the Barnes 168 TTSX ammo in the 308. Finally lots of real world practice shooting from improvised field positions at unknown ranges. If I were going to buy a 308 rig to hunt Elk it would be a Kimber with a 2.5-8 Leupold or a 2.5-10 Nightforce. "Elk fear the hunter who spends most of his money on ammo rather than a new gun."

 

[crystalgayleguy]

280 AI or 300 wsm

 

[vancewalker007]

I have looked at one of them but like the 270wsm not alot of ammo to be found around me

The issue with .270 bullets is the lack of high BC bullet choices. There's nothing wrong with a 270 WSM, I owned one and killed plenty of deer elk and antelope with it, just not at long range. Most bullets will function great on game down to 1800-1700 fps. So look at how far that gets you range wise with common bullets for the cartridge you are looking at. This will give you a rule of thumb to compare with. The IMR website has a lot of cartridges in their reloading data site. You could use this info for max velocity numbers when looking at where a given bullet drops below 1800-1700fps.

 

[FEENIX]

This is why I never ask what rifle to buy or build, I just do it and share later.

 

[AlphaDogs]

This is why I never ask what rifle to buy or build, I just do it and share later.

Well said. IMO people are bored with lockdown. Nobody is going to rush out and buy a rifle based on what they read on some hunting forum. Besides, the OP has two rifles that will kill any Elk that walks.

 

[Bull_Mtn]

Okay thanks I've got a couple places near me that sells tika rifles I will be going to look at couple different rifles hopefully soon.so on the wsm recoil isn't bad with a good pad? Recoil doesn't bother me I just thank about who else might shoot it if need be because my 16yr old brother and 10 yr brother hunts with me and my dad and I let them barrow my rifles as well

I shoot a Mod 70 in .300 WSM. I put a Limbsaver recoil pad on it and it made a world of difference in felt recoil.